AP, Odisha floods claim over 45 lives

More than 45 people have lost their lives due to heavy rains and flash floods in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, while lakhs have been displaced in both the states, reports said on Sunday.

According to reports, at least 32 people were killed in floods in Andhra Pradesh. Guntur district recorded the highest number of seven deaths, followed by Prakasam (6), Mahbubnagar (4), Hyderabad (3), Kurnool (3), Vizianagaram (3) and two each in West Godavari, Nalgonda, and Warangal districts.

As many as 15,000 houses collapsed across 4,000 villages, while 72,000 people were evacuated and crops over 564,000 hectares were destroyed.

The flood situation, which normalised on Saturday, deteriorated again on Sunday and according to Met department reports, heavy rains will lash the state for the next 48 hours.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been pressed into service to beef up the rescue operations.

In Odisha, at least 17 people reportedly died due to heavy incessant rains.

In neighbouring West Bengal, torrential rains have also flooded streets, uprooted trees and sent houses crashing on Saturday. Reports said two people were also killed in the floods.